Gen V review – the male full-frontal really is gratuitous

The second season of this wildly irreverent spinoff of R-rated superhero satire The Boys is packed with swearing, violence – and an astonishing amount of penises

Two years after we last joined its troubled teens in their battle against the forces of corporate tyranny, superhero drama Gen V is back for a second series of powerfully bawdy chaos. Release the penis-shaped balloons! Uncork the Château les Norks! But for pity’s sake conduct your celebrations quietly: Godolkin University’s clipboard-clutching new dean is in no mood for frivolity.

“Let’s be real,” he drawls during his inaugural campus address. “The previous human administration was full of shit. We can’t trust humankind. And that is why, as your new dean, I will be preparing you for this brave new world,” he continues, as the assembled superheroes-in-training – or “supes”, as they’re called – variously gulp, whoop and clench their bum cheeks.